Thursday, June 10, 2010

Is anybody else really excited that its Friday? Not that I've got anything special going on this weekend or anything, because I don't- I'm just absolutely pass-out-where-I-stand, exhausted. Anybody else having one of those kinds of weeks?

...I can't wait to just be pregnant and lazy this weekend.As opposed to being pregnant and obsessively busy.

This Mama needs a break.

But before (you &) I take that break...

I've been thinking about my family a lot lately. Family that I was close to, family that I was never close to, and family that I wish I had been close to. I've been pondering the family that I like, the family that I dislike, and the family that may or may not have liked me back.

My memories always center around the family that I was closest to. My Dad's parents, "Grams and Papa". My Mom's parents, "Grammy and Grandpa", and then my Aunt Laurie, my Uncle Brian, and my Cousin Frank. And my Great Aunt Peg. Those are the handful of people that will always and forever be kept the very closest to my heart.

There are other family members, yes, that I think about and love- but for some reason the pull that I feel towards those faces, just isn't the same.

One of the people I just mentioned specifically, was my Cousin Frank.

He was born just 6 months before me, and we were best friends. I would spend days and nights with him, we'd make up songs together and watch David the Gnome, we'd go swimming in pools and at lakes, and play Ghostbusters in his backyard. He was the closest thing to a sibling that I ever had. I'm sure we must have fought some of the time, but from what I remember, he was the only person in the world who understood me.

I remember one time, he made up a song about bacon bits. Its the stupidest song, but I remember every single word, even though the words were constantly changing. I still sing it to myself whenever I'm anywhere near a bacon bit. I sang it today, in fact, when I was sprinkling some on top of my husbands vegetable soup.

One time we put on the largest shirts we could find, and stuffed them with every pillow from around the house that we could find. Why? Because we wanted to pretend that we were Oompa Loompas. And then, because it was the absolute funniest thing to us, we somehow walked up the stairs that way, and Oompa Loompa'd ourselves at my Grams and Papa, thinking they'd find it just as funny as we did.

...well they didn't. But-

Anyways, my parents and I moved away from California in 1990, I think, and my cousin and I grew apart. We visited during the summers and sometimes Christmas, but soon even that wasn't enough to hold our bond together. By the time we had graduated from high school, we had each taken completely separate paths, and now we don't know each other at all. It makes me so sad to think about, how he was once my best friend, and my brother really- and now hes a total stranger.

Its been 7 years since I've seen him, and 4 years since I've talked to him.

I'm grateful though, for all of the wonderful memories that I have from my childhood. Its those memories that I keep in mind when watching my own babies play. They'll have similar memories, and see each other in the same light, I hope.

(we can all thank my hormones for this nostalgic post, ok?)

Here are a couple three or so pictures, of Frank and I, from my days in Hayward...

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Aww, I'm so jealous of your being close to cousins --even one:) Ever. I've never ever been close to any cousins, and my dad has 5 siblings. My mom has 2. *sigh* What stinks is that they mostly all live in state..but there's no common ground except relatives. Oh well. It is what it is.

And that bacon bit song? Gosh I'm curious. Sounds cute. ;)Oh my gosh, that is sooo Charlie in that first picture! There's definitely a ton of resemblance.

I totally think that maybe you should write to Frank and maybe the two of you can get to know each other all over again. Life is too short to waste a single minute and to not surround yourself with the people that you care about, even if you haven't seem them in 7 years

It's too bad you guys grew apart, but I've been around the block enough to know that it happens to the best of us. I love that you guys had a bacon bits song...and the fact that you still remember it!

I only have one cousin and she was born and raised in Norway. I met her in person for the first time when my Dad passed away. I was 28 and she was 30. It was like meeting a complete stranger. We are more like casual acquaintances than family. I always envy people who have a lot of cousins and are close to them. Maybe there's still time for you guys to reconnect.

Definitely sweet childhood memories. My cousin situation is odd. I have 5 first cousins, and only talk to one of them. One is always completely doing his own thing apart from the whole family which is sad, and the other 3 are my uncle's kids that we haven't seen since 1998 and to be honest I find them rude hehehe. We reconnected with them on facebook last year and all one of them said was "oh. I hardly remember meeting you." Not, "oh this is nice to reconnect!" or anything nice. :P

I can see your childrens' faces in yours so much, isn't that always amazing to see?

Aren't you glad that the wonderful childhood memories stay with us? From your other posts I can see that you are making wonderful memories for your children, and I'm sure they will appreciate them even more when they are older than they do now.

It is strange how people are such an integral part of our lives and then somehow something changes and they aren't there anymore. I'm going through a lot of that myself lately. Sometimes it's depressing but I guess it just happens. My cousin and I were the same way until we were 16. Just like sisters. We went through years of not talking (because she was not someone I wanted to talk to anymore...another story) but now we talk once a month or so and it's strange how our relationship is the same when we talk-same dynamics, same way we talk to each other and like you and frank, she gets me in a way nobody else does...even being far away. Maybe it was because of those early special memories. PS- I want to know the bacon bits song so badly!

I've been thinking about family a lot the last few weeks ... I wonder if its because school was ending, summer break starting and remember how our family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) would spend almost every weekend at the lake. I miss that ... I don't miss all the drama that started when we grew up though ... I guess I'll keep my memories and leave the rest in AZ